Page 29 - E2 Integrated Workbook STUDENT 2018

Alternative approaches to strategy development

2.3 Muddling through - Lindblom

Lindblom described how government administrators ‘muddle through’ from year to
year rather than carry out bold strategic initiatives. He criticised the rational model
because it is unrealistic to imagine a strategic planner carefully sifting through every
possible option to achieve desired goals.

He argued that strategic choice takes place by comparing possible options against
each other and considering which would give the best outcome. This approach does
not try to identify and review all the potential strategies available to the organisation.
Rather it provides a way of monitoring the progress and the direction the organisation
is moving in, and allows a change in 'course' if required.

2.4 Logical incrementalism – Quinn

A manager must map where he or she wants the organisation to go and then
proceed towards it in small steps, being prepared to adapt if the environment
changes or if support is not forthcoming. Quinn's logical incrementalism falls
somewhere between the rational approach and the 'muddling through' approach.

2.5 Freewheeling opportunism

The alternative to having a long-term strategic plan is not having a plan or having a
series of short-term plans as a replacement. Freewheeling opportunism is a term
used to describe the essentially reactive process of management as an alternative to
strategic planning.

Illustrations and further practice

Try case study style question 2 from Chapter 2 of the Study Text.

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